About
History
My first camera was a Rollei 35TE, inspired by the camera I was lent by a friend when I went to India and Nepal, this was followed by an Olympus OM1-N which was finally declared beyond repair due to corrosion after too many years in the humidity of South and Central America.
Since those days I have been through two digital cameras, and a film camera or two, and now find myself with a Rollei 35B and a Pentax K1000 (having just sold my Nikon 300S. While I enjoy digital photography (but not any follow-up work on the computer), I love the texture of film, it may not be razor-sharp focus but is more natural, more real. Given a choice, my favourite films are ADOX Silvermax (black & white) and Kodak Ektar.
Photography
“ Wildness……is an energy which blows through one’s being, causing the self to shift into new patterns, opening up alternative perceptions of life...”
I enjoy visiting photographic exhibitions with a friend, someone to discuss the images with, to find inspiration in the artist’s work – Alec Soth, William Eggleston, Gregory Crewdson and Diane Arbus have been the most recent. I also find inspiration in the written word, particularly the work of author Robert MacFarlane. I have used his book, ‘The Wild Places’, as a catalyst for work in my local environment.
I seek inspiration wherever it may be found, one of my favourite recent images was one of the bathroom curtain when I was housebound during a stormy holiday of high and wild winds in south Devon, but I like to believe that I could be dropped into any environment and find creativity with a camera.
Simon Comerford.